Media literacy is the skill of understanding the nature of communications, particularly in regard to telecommunications and mass media. The skill entails knowledge of the structural features of the media, and how these might tend to influence the content of the media.

Major topics

• The technology of telecommunications
• The business aspects of mass media such as broadcasting
  • In particular, this includes the business and function of advertising
• The interaction of media and government
• The nature of journalism and the problem of media bias
• The sociopolitical nature of the media's content such as the depiction of social stereotypes and violence.

History and dispersal

The concept of media literacy as a topic of education first arose in the 1980s. Its establishment corresponds to a period of intensive academic and political investigation into the possibility that the media played a causative role in various social trends (usually 'negative' trends). It has become a standard topic of study in school in many countries. For example, media literacy is part of the government-directed 'Citizenship' curricula in the United Kingdom and Australia.

It is less widespread in the U.S., in large part because there is no central authority making nationwide curriculum recommendations. Each of the fifty states has numerous school districts, each of which operates with a great degree of independence from one another. Media literacy 'caucuses' or 'movements' arise as voluntary efforts by educationalists. Renee Hobbs of Temple University has documented [1] (http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article2.html) seven profound issues media literacy initiators are grappling with. Despite (or because of) the lack of federal government backing, US civic support and teaching resources for media literacy education are in some respects more academically rigorous, innovative and sustainable than their EU counterparts.

Note that outside the U.S., media literacy is frequently referred to as media education. There is considerable overlap between the two terms, and they are nearly synonymous; however, those who espouse media education generally embrace the media as a site of pleasure, whereas some of those who espouse media literacy take an inoculationist approach, seeking to protect children from what they perceive as its harmful effects.

Proponents of media literacy

• Marshall McLuhan - an early Canadian theorist into the nature of media
• Noam Chomsky - an American linguist and political analyst most famous for his observations about corporate media's role in propaganda, which he describes as the 'manufacturing of consent'.
• Jean Baudrillard - a French sociologist and philosopher known for his writings about media, virtuality, and the Gulf War.
• Neil Postman (1931-2003) - a media ecologist and author of numerous popular press books, including Amusing Ourselves to Death
• Renee Hobbs (http://www.reneehobbs.org) (external link) - a leading authority on media education
• David Gauntlett - contemporary theorist whose 'new creative methods' offer new ways of exploring media literacy
• Frank W.Baker- nationally recognized media educator and workshop presenter for K-12 schools and conferences

Further information

• MEAC - Media education across the curriculum (http://www.mediaEducation.net)
• The Center for Media Literacy offers teaching plans, packs and online resources (http://www.medialit.org)
• Media Literacy Clearinghouse, cited as a great starting point for K-12 educators; media educator/webmaster Frank W.Baker conducts workshops for K-12 schools and conferences (http://medialit.med.sc.edu)